Come Moonrise by Lucy Monroe Read Free Book Online

groaned in real pain when he saw
her clothes folded in a neat pile on top of the dresser.
    He picked them up, holding them as far from
his body as he could and carried them into the other room. He left
them by the woodstove. He could tell her he wanted them to be warm
for her in the morning if she asked about it.
    Thankfully, the scent that lingered when he
went back into the bedroom was muted. He shut the door and cracked
the window, letting in frigid, but fresh air to help mask it.
    As it was, he doubted he was going to get
any sleep that night.
    ***
    Frankie woke up pulsing between her legs
from a dream about Ty, rolled over and fell off her narrow bed to
the hard cabin floor.
    "Ooph..." She climbed to her knees, still
disoriented from sleep. "Jeeze. Trust me to fall out of bed when
I’m twenty-six years old."
    Standing up, she winced
with pain. Her neck and back hurt from the cramped position on the
couch and she would bet her favorite copy of the Merck Veterinary Manual she was going to have a big purple bruise on her hip
tomorrow.
    The main room was cooling off and she
realized the fire needed to be stoked again. She was surprised Ty
hadn’t come out to do it. He must be sleeping pretty heavily. She
took care of it and then tried to stretch out the kinks.
    It only took a few seconds of stretching to
realize that any attempt at sleeping the rest of the night on the
sofa would be hopeless.
    If she snuck into the bed with Ty, he
wouldn’t even notice. It was so big. His insistence they not share
it was just plain stupid. So, okay...he didn’t want to make love to
her, but no one was asking him to. She just wanted a comfortable
place to sleep without the guilt of knowing she was consigning her
best friend to the purgatory of the too-short couch.
    She opened the door to the bedroom as
quietly as she could and tiptoed toward the bed. It was freezing.
Goosebumps shivered down her arms.
    "What are you doing, Frankie?" Ty’s voice
was gravelly and low, but not sleepy.
    It was also not in the least welcoming.
    Since he was awake, she made no effort to be
quiet as she crossed to the window. "It’s open. Are you nuts?"
    "I like fresh air when I sleep."
    "Well, you’re going to have to go without
tonight." She shut the window with a snap.
    "To hell with the window, what are you doing
in here?" It sounded like he took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. "Damn. That wasn’t smart. You’re supposed to be on the
couch." He said it like he was telling her she’d shirked her duty
toward world peace, or something.
    "I fell out of bed." She grimaced at the
admission.
    "Are you okay?" All irritation had drained
from his voice to be replaced by immediate concern.
    How was she going to walk away from this
man? "Not really." She sighed. "I bruised my hip and I can’t get
comfortable on the sofa again."
    "You have to try."
    "I don’t want to. It’s hopeless, Ty."
    "You can’t sleep in here with me," he ground
out, the softness fading as fast as it had come to his voice.
    She ignored him. Sometimes you just had to
do that with bossy men. She crossed the room and climbed into the
bed on the opposite side of Ty. "Just pretend I’m not here."
    "I can’t do that."
    She rolled her eyes in the dark. "I promise
not to kick."
    "You’re breathing. That’s enough."
    She turned on her side away from him. "Get
over it, Ty. I’m not going back to the couch."
    "You chose to sleep on it, to get your scent
all over it. I can’t sleep out there now."
    Great, now he was saying she stank. Nice.
"So, I made a mistake."
    "Yes, you did."
    She turned back to face him and realized
he’d moved across the bed. His face was less than six inches from
hers.
    "You don’t sound so good."
    "You’re wearing my shirt."
    "Do you want me to take it off?"
    "Yes."
    She gasped.
    "No. Damn it. Get back in the other room
before I do something we’ll both regret."
    "Are you talking sex here?"
    "Yes."
    Her body pulsed with need at that one small
affirmative and a